How LGBTQ Union Activists Transformed the Labor Movement

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As Pride Month isrecognizedaround the world this year, the rainbow-hued celebration will be colored by hope, fear for the future, and reverence for the queer liberation movement’s radical past.

This year has already seen the murders ofat least nine Black trans womenin a slow-movinggenocidethat continues to ravage the community. The Trump administration is still forcing its agenda to deny basic human rights to queer people, especially those who are trans and non-binary. Around the world, queer people facebrutal repressionand inequality. Through it all, thecommunityhas stood strong, and even when faced with constant attacks by a homophobic, transphobic right-wing government, LGBTQIA people in the U.S. do have a formidable ally:labor unions.

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) President Richard Trumka noted in a 2018op-ed, “For many LGBTQ Americans, a union card is theironlyform of employment protection,” and he’s right. There iscurrently no federal lawthat protects queer and trans workers from being discriminated against at work, and the Trump administration reversed an Obama-era policy that classified bias against trans workers as a form of sex discrimination, which falls under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. With even that gone, queer and trans workers are left with no federal-level workplace protections, and are subject to individual states’ laws, which can also impact access tohousing and health care.